Bravo Section
Bravo Section Bravo Section is an 18-man special operations unit operating on the Jacinto Plateau, mostly in the city of Ephyra. The unit is divided into four squads, three of which serve as frontline combatants or as recon; the fourth and smallest squad is deployed as bomb disposal, or in some cases, as sniper and heavy weapons support. The unit was created and led by Lieutenant Minh Young Kim as a task force during the Winter of Sorrow. The unit is prone to taking heavy casualties due to the nature of its work, and the number of Gears serving in Bravo often changes weekly. While more experienced Gears transferred from other squads is preferable, Bravo Section is usually forced to take on fresh and inexperienced recruits as replacements for killed or wounded men. Only a few of the original members are still alive, and often harbor deep resentment for the short-lived new recruits. In addition, the various squads of Bravo Section can and usually are equipped with special equipment or weaponry for specific missions. Bravo Four often deploys with special EOD Armor. Heavy weapons such as Mulchers, Mortars, Oneshot's and even the Hammer of Dawn handheld-prototype have been used by the Gears of Bravo at various points in time. Operational History Bravo Section was formed during the Winter of Sorrow, 9 years after E-Day, as a special task force. Lieutenant Minh Young Kim, in addition to his other duties, took command of the unit and handpicked most of the original members, which included such Gears as Samantha Byrne and Jonathan Harper. The unit soon fell under the indirect command of the petulant Major Aleksander Reid, much to the chagrin of Lieutenant Kim. At first they were used only as reinforcements and as an EOD team, but before long Major Reid was using the Section for his own personal glory. His policies and the missions he chose would only result in high casaulties and sorrow for the men, despite any personal gain the Major might have achieved. The task force's first mission was designated 'Operation: Trident' and was chosen by Reid both for its danger and for its perceived importance. It was planned over the course of two days, while the Gears were prepared by Kim through vigorous training and extensive briefing. It appeared that the mission would not only be a huge success, but a glorious trial by fire for the new Section. They would insert by King Raven helicopter into the hotly contested business district of Ephyra city and fast-rope into the streets in four different locations, before moving in to destroy three different important targets, which included two size-3 Emergence Holes and a Locust forward operating base. Unfortunately, the Operation proved too complex and fell apart; Bravo destroyed the Locust base and partially collapsed one of the E-Holes, at the cost of 70% casualties and the loss of all men in Bravo Three. Unsatisfied with the pyrrhic victory of Operation Trident, Major Reid organized a series of further missions for Bravo Section after reinforcing the unit with a dozen new men, most of them fresh recruits, whereas the original members had been proven and proficient veterans. The first of these new missions, 'Operation: House Cleaning', was a disastrous one that left only seven men alive, though it was technically a victory as the men succeeded in clearing a heavily infested Locust sector. Most of the casualties were a result of the mission's poor planning, the inability of the squads to contact or even support one another, and the inexperience of most of the men. Further missions were much the same. Over the course of the next two months, Bravo Section embarked on over two dozen Operations and fifty EOD assignments. Despite heavy casualties on most of the missions, the unit earned a reputation as a hard-fighting cadre of never-say-die men, taking on every dangerous mission they could get their hands on. Unfortunately, they also earned a bad reputation as a unit where the average life-expectancy of a new member was only twenty-seven hours. This recognition would soon earn the war-weary men of Bravo a reprieve from Major Reid and his operations, for after two months of heavy casualties and perilous assignments, they were removed from Reid's command by Colonel Hoffman himself. Now a task force of Hoffman's personal best, Bravo Section serves as some of the Colonel's "go-to" men. Casualties were cut by three-fourths, and Lieutenant Kim became Hoffman's favorite junior officer. Missions now varied from frontline patrols to reinforcing beleagured squads out in the field. While still some of the most dangerous work to be found, Bravo received far less of a workload and much better treatment. Unfortunately, casualties remained a serious problem for the next three months, with the less-experienced replacements often being killed within the first week of their assignment to the Section. Members of Bravo Section Lieutenant Minh Young Kim After almost twenty years of military service, both in the Pendulum Wars and the Locust-Human War, Lieutenant Kim (or "Ping Pong" to the men of Bravo) has one of the most distuingished and longest service records of any of the men. He often leads Bravo Section in some of the more important missions, but his actual role as CO of the unit is mostly to simply organize the Section, requestion weaponry and replacements, and debrief the squad-leaders. His intermittent involvement in the missions usually entails that the mission is especially important or dangerous. In addition, Kim commands several other units of Gears, which he also often leads in combat but are not associated with Bravo Section. During the Battle of Ephyra, Lieutenant Kim organizes the mission to destroy a size-4 Locust Emergence Hole, and personally leads Bravo Four, the squad which will carries the explosives to be used to collapse said E-Hole. He carries an early prototype of the hand-held Hammer of Dawn targetting laser, which he ragards as the most important weapon he has ever held in his life. Bravo One Sergeant Cody Acheson As squad-leader of Bravo One, Sergeant Acheson is the senior NCO of Bravo Section and one of its longest serving members. A veteran of the Pendulum Wars, he fought side-by-side with Corporal Kalan Rostegas in the desolate desert region known as 'the Crust' for almost a decade. Unfortunately, Acheson has little grasp of tactics or urban combat. He is capable of leading men, as well as inspiring confidence and loyalty, but his hard-headedness and stubborness have not made him a man who can easily learn new tricks. He still fights his war like he fought Indies in the harsh deserts of the Pendulum Wars. And with the recent death of Rostegas weighing heavily on him, it is unlikely that he will ever operate at full combat capacity again, leaving him a hollow, nearly broken man. Acheson, like almost every man in Bravo Section, never goes into battle without his helmet, which he wears over his trademark black hat. He is a stickler for safety, always ensuring that his men secure their helmets and, when they are in a helicopter, their safety harnesses. He regularly inspects his men's armor and kit, and keeps a wide variety of spare parts in the Section's barracks. He wears his sidearm across his chest, along with tactical gear such as old binoculars and rangefinders. Corporal Kyle Janvier Promoted to Corporal after Corporal Rostegas' death, Janvier is the most light-hearted man in the squad, and one of the first generation of replacements for Bravo Section. While he didn't experience Operation Trident or Operation House Cleaning, Janvier was already a five-year veteran of the Locust-Human War. He is a skilled and dependable soldier, solid under fire and rock-steady under pressure. He never worries, even finding that pressure only serves to calm him even further, and he is keen to keep his squadmates in good spirits with a joke or wise crack. In addition, he is the only man in the unit who doesn't suffer from constant nightmares, and his keen observations have saved Bravo One from danger time and again. Janvier has the most tattoos of any man left alive in Bravo Section. They completely cover his arms and most of his torso. Only Rostegas could rival his tattoos. Janvier is also a fairly capable Corporal, but without the connection that Rostegas and Acheson shared, he is unable to influence his Sergeant's bad tactics to any extent. He wears old Commando armor, which he is very proud of, and has decorated his plates extensively over the years. He considers Miguel Torres and Frank Ito to be his closest friends. Miguel Torres Tall and broad, Torres is the squad's raw muscle and bravado. He loves the close-in fight more than anything else, and especially relishes using the chainsaw bayonet in combat. Torres always seems to be covered in various forms of gore, and his combat record is second only to Lieutenant Kim and Sergeant Trobek. However, his aggressive, almost reckless style has its drawbacks; Torres has been shot and wounded more times than anybody else in Bravo Section, if only by a narrow margin. He survived Operation House Cleaning but was shot in the leg and took shrapnel in the arm and neck. His reputation amongst the new recruits is that of an unflinching juggernaut, but everyone else sees him as a near-suicidal combat junkie. Neither is entirely true. Bare-armed and one of the biggest men in Bravo, Torres is definitely a man to have on your side in a fight. He might be thought of as callous and cold, even hateful toward replacements, but in reality Torres is simply a man who can't handle fear or emotional loss like anyone else. He distances himself from almost everyone, and sees all replacements as being short-lived and useless; he would rather not have anything to do with them, as he fears growing attached to them only to have them die. With the recent death of his younger brother, these fears only serve to drive him to greater risks in a strange attempt to preserve his own sanity. Torres wears ammunition pouches across his stomach, and carries a knife on his belt; he wears CQB helmet. He deeply cares for his friends and will carry any wounded man to safety; he is always the first at everything, from exposing himself to save others to giving first-aid to the wounded to volunteering for night-watch. Janvier and Frank, his only friends, joke that Torres is just a big scared kid in a giant man's body, trying to be big brother to everyone. Frank Ito Tough and wiry, Frank is quite possibly the heart and soul of Bravo One. Although a veteran, he has only been a Gear for one year, as he is only 20 years old. An accomplished fighter, Frank's combat record is marred only by his propensity for taking risks and jumping at the opportunity to exploit a perceived weakness in the enemy. He has been wounded multiple times, all of them badly, but has pulled through anyway through tenacity and will, minus a foot of his intestines. Torres has carried Frank off more than one battlefield as a bloody mess, but Frank just keeps coming back. He's been with Bravo One since he transferred to the unit as a replacement a few days after Operation House Cleaning, and he intends to stay. One thing strange about Frank is that while the rest of the squad sticks together when on leave, staying in their Barracks and acting like a small family, he is always spending all of his spare time away, citing 'family business'. Though he never talks about his family with the squad, they have all grown somewhat suspicious and curious about his exploits. Janvier often jokes that Frank is 'seeing some girl', which isn't actually all that far from the truth. Frank is actually a father, with a baby on the way. His wife considers him a 'combat junkie' always getting himself blown up and stitched back together so he can get back to his 'squaddies' and leave her all alone again. In reality, Frank is simply torn by his fierce loyalty to his squad, and his love for her. He plans to tell his squad all about his family when his baby is born, but secretly fears the possibility that he won't live to do so. Norman Tarol "Hand me a Lancer, sir, and I'll do my best to prove you wrong." Young and gravely serious, Norman is one of the fresh replacements in Bravo One. He was originally part of another squad tasked with patrolling part of downtown Ephyra, and has had limited combat experience. Unfortunately, that combat experience only amounts to one week in the field. While that experience is quite inadequate for the dangerous missions that Bravo Section is used for, it has prepared Norman somewhat for the bleak and hopeless horrors of the war that he will soon face. And while he is a rookie, Norman has so far avoided much of the stigma loaded onto new recruits by Bravo, as most of Bravo One's loathing is centered on the obnoxious and overeager Tuck Smith. Sergeant Acheson entrusts him with the squad's empty magazines, which he carries in a sling-bag on his hip. While outwardly there seems to be nothing special about Norman, his stark view of the world and keen eye for details distinguishes him from the crowd of green recruits. What he lacks in experience he almost makes up for in a willingness to observe and learn, and a resolute determination to prove himself under fire and do as much damage to the enemy as possible during his time as a Gear. Sergeant Trobek describes Norman as 'his kind of recruit, the one that paid attention and kept his head low, learned from his mistakes and didn't pretend to be made of iron.' Tucker Smith "No damn sniper is gonna kill ''me, sir."'' As the youngest and least experienced Gear in Bravo One, Tuck draws most of the squad's antipathy. His overeagerness and gung ho attitude only exacerbate the problem, and his oblivious naivity certainly doesn't help either. However, despite his irritating behavior and personality, Tuck has one thing going for him. For all his pretentiousness, he performs well under fire and handles stress exceedingly well. Unfortunately, his gung ho attitude and eagerness to prove himself to his squadmates by scoring a chainsaw kill nearly gets himself killed in his very first firefight. He is also not as physically fit as the older Gears, unable to keep up when the squad comes under attack by snipers. Doggedly determined, Tuck trusts in himself above all other things, and grows to dislike the rest of the squad as they pressure and admonish him. This only results in further problems, for himself and others, as he endangers the squad time and time again. Bravo Two Sergeant Matt Trobek "Whiskey Tango Charlie, kid. It means 'whatever the cost.'" The youngest NCO in Bravo Section at only 24, Trobek's combat record is nothing if not impressive. As a Corporal he survived Operation House Cleaning as the only man left standing in his squad, and as a Sergeant his track record for success easily trumps anybody else in the Section. His grasp of tactics and urban combat, as well as his innate leadership qualities, makes him unquestionably the best squad-leader in the Section, and one of the best at the COG's disposal. As well, his ability to kill the enemy bests even Miguel Torres. Unfortunately, Trobek is the least senior of the three Sergeants in Bravo, and his fellow Sergeants seem to see him as a tool to be used for their personal gain. It doesn't help that Trobek is subservient to his perceived superiors to a fault; while an aggressive leader of men, he refuses to question orders or stand up to officers and superior NCOs out of sheer principle. Trobek is the only man in Bravo who doesn't wear a helmet. Instead, he opts to go into combat with only a comms earpiece, relying on unimpaired vision and hearing to keep his head safe, much like Lieutenant Kim. Unfortunately, he is more vulnerable to hearing and brain damage than his helmet-wearing fellow Gears. Lieutenant Kim himself views Trobek as a 'damn fine soldier', but also as the candle that burns twice as bright for only half as long. This is quite true, because Trobek will do anything to get out from under the thumbs of Sergeant Acheson and Sergeant Kittur, and he's becoming increasingly reckless and aggressive, taking excessive risks to prove his superiority and land a promotion. Trobek and Warren Ricard go way back, having been in the same squad before they were transferred to Bravo, where they were at first seperated until after Operation House Cleaning. They are close friends, and Trobek's qualities are complemented by Warren's; the Sergeant is at his best when Warren is by his side. Trobek's face is marred by scars, from weals to stitches to pockmarks. The effect is unnerving, as he is often perceived to be much older than he actually is, and the many scars often knit together when he frowns or shouts to create the effect that his face was, as one Gear put it, 'poorly stitched together by a mad scientist.' Corporal Warren Ricard Broad-shouldered and stalwart, Warren is the strongest man in Bravo Two, and one of the more levelheaded and under control men in the Section. He has been a Gear for five years, and has known Sergeant Trobek since his first day in the squad. The two men are extremely close friends; either will die for the other, and neither could handle the other's death. As a faucet of good sense, Warren keeps Trobek grounded and does his best to keep his friend from getting himself or others killed with his reckless behavior. He dislikes the fact that Trobek goes without a helmet, deciding that the risks outweigh the benefits, and he believes that acquired hearing and brain damage are the reasons for Trobek's increasingly risky behavior. Having survived Operation House Cleaning and fighting his way through some operations despite being wounds, Warren is no lightweight. It is hard to find him without a gun in his hands or at his side, even when he is on leave and walking the most secure of streets. He believes in superior and overwhelming firepower, while Trobek focuses more on using maneuver and as little ammunition as posible. As a result of this, he typically carries most of the squad's extra ammunition. In combat, he brings the full brunt of his Lancer fire or heavy weaponry onto the enemy. During the Battle of Ephyra, Warren carries the Section's only machine-gun, a belt-fed Mulcher, as well as all of its ammo belts. Since such a weapon and its load is exceedingly heavy, he enlists the help of the squad's new recruit, Carl Ragas, in carrying the Mulcher. He uses this opportunity to coach and instruct the recruit, in the hopes of keeping Carl alive and increasing the rook's usefullness in combat, effectively mentoring the young soldier. Lewis Graham Lewis is indisputibly the oldest man in Bravo Section, at a whopping 52 years of age. Widely known to be a bad tempered diehard and noncomforming dissident, the man has few friends and many enemies. He clashes with Trobek over everything, and often outright refuses to follow orders from other NCOs and officers. Only Trobek can keep a rein on the petulant, cantankerous old man, and even he has considerable trouble. Only the man's fearless resolve and surprising ability to keep up with, even outperform the younger men has kept him in Bravo for this long. He's been with the unit since Operation Trident, the very beginning, something he's not afraid to rub in everyone else's face. Surprisingly, Lewis' staunchest supporters are Warren and Trobek, despite his troublesome nature. Even more surprisingly, he has recently put an end to his longstanding 'old bachelor' status and shacked up with a woman in her late-20s or early 30s, and he's not above bragging about his lewd and lascivious sexual exploits with her around his squadmates. In combat, Lewis carries exclusively a Gnasher shotgun, which he is rarely seen without. He adorns every spare inch of his armor with rows of shotgun shells, from regular shells to a variety of special loads, such as solid slugs, used for breaching doors and Boomer skulls. He also makes extensive use of his sidearm, a standard issue snub pistol, which he is rather proficient with in either hand. One of the main reasons for Lewis sticking to close range is that his eyesight is not what it used to be, and he's not getting any younger. Another reason is that he's simply a highly volatile and violent man who savors the absolute physical destruction of his enemies, delighting in close combat and a good, messy kill. Carl Ragas is clearly disgusted by this obsession with bloodshed, but Lewis makes it frequently clear that he detests Carl and all other fresh recruits. Carl Ragas Young and unproven at only 18, Carl may be the oldest of the new recruits but he is still entirely new to war and the stresses of combat. He was originally going to be part of the Corps of Engineers, or possibly part of food production, but he managed to bulk up and squeeze by into becoming a Gear, despite being a centimeter too short and a few pounds underweight. While a little too small for his armor, Carl is anxious for action and the opportunity to take out the frustrations of his wasted childhood and years of hardliving on any Locust he finds. Unfortunately, he soon finds that he is woefully unprepared for combat, consumed by worry and self-doubt when it becomes apparent that any Locust he finds has a better chance of killing him than he of killing it. Carl initially looks up to the nonchalant Norman Tarol for direction and information of how to behave and survive in the field, but his attentions soon turn to the far superior fighting prowess and direction of Sergeant Trobek and Corporal Warren. Eager to impress, Carl follows every order to the letter wherever he can. When Warren enlists his help in carrying the heavy Mulcher around the battlefield of Ephyra, he takes the opportunity to probe for guidance and information, and soon succeeds in having Warren take him under his wing. Carl carries several keepsakes and personal items in a sturdy pouch on his right arm. Trobek entrusts him with the sack to carry the squad's empty magazines, in the hopes that the responsibility will improve his usefullness and sense of caution. He is not especially eager to use the chainsaw bayonet on his Lancer, but he loves grenades and their use. He is also a fairly capable rifleman, with a good sense of ammunition conservation and accuracy; however, he feels only fear when he realizes just how many bullets it can take to drop a mere Locust Drone. Bravo Three Sergeant Rastin Kittur An unhappy, cheerless man, Sergeant Kittur is a capable squad leader and proficient killer. He is also a man tormented by nightmares; the seemingly permenant dark bags under his eyes are proof of just how little sleep he gets. Of all the 'old guard' members of Bravo Section, Rastin may very well be the man who took the horrible suicide missions the worst. After watching his entire squad be wiped out twice, and so many of his men slaughtered by the monstrous, merciless Locust Horde, Kittur is on a downward spiral into darkness. He may very well soon reach his breaking point, and soon. He is cautious to a fault as a result of his heavy losses, and indecisive at the best of times. He insists on trying to cultivate some sort of friendship with every man under his command. While he can inspire leadership, his efforts don't always work out like he wanted; Lewis Graham was at one point in time a part of his squad, before Acheson had him transferred to Bravo Two for Trobek to deal with. Rastin sports a huge mane of frizzy brown and black hair that he ties off in a bundle that sticks out from under his helmet. He originally sported a sloppy beard, but has since trimmed it down to an immaculate goattee and moustache. Having become nearly obsessed with orderliness and stability, he trims his facial hair twice a day and follows his daily routine to the letter, even including the time it takes to clean his rifle. If not for Desta Muni, his Corporal and close friend, he would have fallen apart long ago. Also, due to his disinclination toward risking the lives of his own men, and because he outranks Sergeant Trobek, he is constantly forcing Bravo Two to pick up the slack left by his squad. Only Lieutenant Kim can get him to take his men forward and directly engage the enemy. Corporal Desta Muni ' Over-the-top and witty, Desta Muni provides most of Bravo Three's humor. As the squad's Corporal and the Section's only trained Medic, he also brings a great deal of sanity and medical supplies to the Section. Only Sergeant Kittur's overly-cautious nature keeps him from running out into danger to treat every wounded man whatever the risks. As it is, Kittur keeping the Section's only Medic to himself wear significantly on the other Squads and usually works to the detriment of everybody not in Bravo Three. Desta resents this, and has begun to grow to resent Sergeant Kittur's increasingly erratic nature and meticulous habits. However, he is able to stomach this and carry on anyway, doing his best to keep Rastin sane and in the fight. A South Islander by birth and a businessman by nature, Desta was a high-payed manager for a lucrative and well-known business in the area of the South Islands and Tyrus, often taking expensive flights from his home island to Jacinto on business trips. When E-Day struck he was able to fly himself and his family to Jacinto for this very reason, but chose instead to keep his family on the Islands in the hopes that the Locust would be unable to burrow deep enough under the ocean to reach them. Sadly, he was trapped in Jacinto soon after, and forever seperated from his loved ones. Devastated, Desta coped with the loss by struggling to find a way to return to the Islands, but when this proved impossible he began to fall apart. Believing himself to possess important management skills, he attempted to sign up for managing supplies and resources for the Coalition military. By the time of the Hammer of Dawn strikes, however, he had found that he simply possessed no useful skills, and was relegated to food production. Rather than face this disgrace, he chose to enlist as a Gear, and over the course of the next decade proved himself a resourceful and hard-fighting soldier, as well as a dependable and well-trained Medic. Desta sports tribal tattoos on his shoulders, which trail up his neck and onto his cheeks, as well as several unsightly lip piercings, even though he was born a city-boy and was never a part of a tribe. He also wears a white rag on his arm, which is imprinted with the red medic's cross, mostly for good luck. '''Howerd Sandell ' "With all due respect, ''sir, I only need one eye to aim down the sights."'' A lanky beanpole of a Gear known as much for his titanic strength as for his sour melancholy, Howerd is the most accomplished soldier in Bravo Three, though his record cannot match such men as Miguel Torres or Sergeant Trobek. Deeply introspective and even philosophical, Howerd dislikes Sergeant Kittur and believes that the man is a half-insane pissant who tries too hard to be liked. He is also the only survivor of the fifth generation of replacements, having survived several missions with Bravo before Hoffman removed the Section from Major Reid's command. In point of fact, Howerd dislikes almost everybody, especially Torres and the rest of Bravo One. He has a grudging respect for Sergeant Trobek and Paul Sample, and is friends with Warren Ricard. He is said to have killed a Drone with his bare hands, but when asked about this by the new recruits he simply shows them the appalling scars he took from the knife and claws of the 'bastard grub'. One such scar is his ruined eye, from where the Drone jammed its thumb into his face and tore into the back of his head and neck with its fingers. And although he has only one eye, Howerd reasons that he 'only need one eye to aim down the sights.' Such a grim and macabre outlook on things serves to immediately distance him from the recruits, most of whom see him as half-insane himself. He is supposedly extremely proficient at most forms of card-playing, one of the few things he enjoys, due to the fact that he is quite literally unreadable, but nobody will play cards with him. In addition to the missing eye, Howerd also has one bad knew and one worse knee, as well as arthritis in his hands at only 37, and respiratory problems due to surviving a shotgun blast that perforated one of his lungs and left him in the hospital for several weeks. During the Battle of Ephyra he insisted on carrying the heavy Mortar that was supplied to Bravo Three, despite the pain it caused him and Sergeant Kittur's insistance that someone else handle the enormous weapon. 'Darall Parlabane ' "Oh yeah, man! Just keep your head down and don't stick your neck out for no-one. You'll be ''fine."'' Relatively new to Bravo, Darall was a replacement for a man killed by a sniper in Bravo Three. Having been with Bravo Three for several weeks now, he is beginning to like how things are going for him; Sergeant Kittur ensures that he is out of harm's way (or so he believes), as well as ensuring that other men are risking their necks while he can sit back in relative safety. Though no coward, Darall has grown used to what he believes is relative safety, and has grown soft. Unmarred as yet by the true horrors of war, he thinks himself physcologically strong for not being so broken down and haunted by nightmares like the rest of the men; sadly, this could not be farther from the truth. Though Darall is beginning to crave real combat and kill some Locust up close and personal, he could not be worse prepared. Darall dislikes Howerd, but does not understand why Desta Muni seems to dislike him. Additionally, Darall is obsessed with being 'badass' and 'standing out'. He pretends to be quite knowledeable and experienced as a veteran, for he in fact thinks that he is, telling the new recruits to keep their heads down and just weather the storm. They all seem to see through his facade in short order, with Norman taking a special dislike for him. Darall wears a wide variety of equipment on his armor; too much, in fact, as most of it is useless and merely takes up both space and weight, rendering him clumsy and overburdened. And while he does understand the basic necessity of cover, he doesn't know at all how to use it to his full advantage. His overdramatic bravado and pretentious idea of his own heroism makes him even easier to hate than Tuck Smith. 'Carol Graham ' Completely unrelated by blood or marriage to Lewis Graham, despite the similar name, Carol is a relatively happy-go-lucky young recruit with an unhealthy aspiration to prove himself in combat. The victim of a cruel father and a barely-there mother, his monsters are not the Locust or the Kryll. As the youngest of the new recruits at only 17, he is still tall and broad, well capable of supporting his armor and the physical exertion of combat. His only problem is that he is obsessed with proving to himself, and his parents, that he is better than his father always told him. Buoyed up by courage and raw tenacity, Carol impresses Sergeant Trobek right away; Trobek even requests that Carol be put into Bravo Two, under his command, but the request is denied due to the fact that Sergeant Kittur feels he needs replacements even more, despite the fact that Bravo Two is undermanned. Though they are not his monsters like they are the monsters of other men, Carol soon comes to fear and despise the Locust like he does his father. He soon comes to view them as his father, which each Drone taking on the man's face right before his very eyes. And while skilled and observant, as well as resourceful, Carol is too prone to exposing himself in combat to take a shot at the enemy. Despite this, and his newfound propensity for using the chainsaw bayonet as cathartic relief, his overeager desire to make a hero of himself may just be his downfall. 'Bravo Four ' 'Corporal Paul Sample ' Not unlike many Gears, Paul Sample has led an eventful and perilous life on the frontlines, fighting the Locust across the breadth of the Jacinto Plateau and the Indies across multiple fronts of the Pendulum Wars. Unlike most Gears, Paul Sample was a brash young Petrel pilot during the Pendulum Wars, a flying ace and veteran of upwards of three dozen successful bombing runs. Certainly his skillset is far wider than most other Gears; he can fly nearly any fixed-wing aircraft ever built, he's a skilled sniper, and he leads a small EOD team that has disposed upwards of a dozen bombs a month all across Ephyra. For this he has earned Lieutenant Kim's respect and admiration. And though he has only been a part of Bravo Section for a mere month, his promotion to Sergeant is practically guaranteed. Paul, like many snipers fighting in the Locust-Human War as part of the crumbling remnant of the Coalition's army, learned the trade of long-range killing in the field, under the tutilege of another sniper. After the last of the COG's Petrels were grounded a few weeks before the Hammer of Dawn strikes, and Paul flew the last fixed-wing flight mission himself over southern Tyrus, the pilot rostered out and enlisted in the infantry as a Gear. Soon after he found himself working in the Pirnah Badlands under Padrick Salton, one of the most accomplished snipers of the Pendulum Wars. Being an extremely patient man, and a math genius who had actually worked on designing the Petrel Bombers, he excelled at being Padrick's spotter, and soon became a sniper himself. While not the greatest leader, Paul keeps his head down and stays out of the way of the other NCOs in Bravo Section. Most of the men see him as simply not very talkative, even somewhat of a loner, though his two men freely associate with the other squads. He is very knowledgeable of explosives and has become a detonation expert of sorts, having always enjoyed big explosions and the feeling of being on the edge. He sometimes serves as his own spotter. And, while humble, he doesn't mind telling stories of his more exciting escapades as a sniper. During the Battle of Ephyra, Paul's three man EOD team was personally led by Lieutenant Kim, and he was tasked with providing sniper support for the mission as well as carrying some of the explosive charges to be used on the size-4 Emergence-Hole that was the objective of Bravo's main mission. 'Rick Janos ' "Good thing about being a Gear, and it beats the hell out of the Engineer Corps, is that there's more food to be 'et." A real slob of a man, Janos shaves irregularly and often chews his fingernails. Lieutenant Kim views him as boorish and undisciplined, as well as careless and lazy. In point of fact, much of this is true, but Janos is certainly neither lazy nor careless. He possesses nerves of steel, and an encyclopedic knowledge of all things explosive, dirty, and violent. As well as being good with numbers, he can estimate ranges better than anyone else in Bravo Section, possibly better than anybody else left on Sera. His steady hand and careful eye have saved untold hundreds of lives over the course of his EOD career; he even keeps trophies from many of the explosives he's neutralized. Janos was originally part of the Engineer Corps, a job he was disatisfied with as it meant little food and long, dangerous working hours in terrible conditions. While being a Gear, even an EOD Gear, is little better, "at least there's more food to be 'et". He's been with Bravo Section for nearly three months, being assigned to Bravo Four after Samantha Byrne, the team's best EOD expert, was transferred back to Major Reid's command. He helped fashion the explosive charges that the squad would use on the heavily-fortified Locust E-Hole deep behind enemy lines. 'Andrew Nelsan ' "My first word was ''motherfucker, motherfucker!"'' Like Janos, Nelsan is seen as undisciplined, careless, and lazy by Lieutenant Kim, who also considers him another weak link that might end up endangering the mission and everybody's lives. He's only been with Bravo Four for a month, since the last man was killed by the blast of a roadside bomb the team was disposing of. However, unlike Janos, Kim's assumptions about Nelsan are quite true. He's a haughty, overconfident Gear with a slipshod way of doing things, but if there's one thing he's useful for, it's handling weaponry and killing Locust. Despite what the blast damage and multitude of black specks embedded in his armor might lead one to believe, Nelsan has a keen sense of self preservation and prefers to keep his friends, specifically Janos and Paul, alive and well. Always jumping at the opportunity to take point or act as bait, Nelsan has an estimated kill count of almost two hundred Locust, not counting Wretches and Tickers. When Janos was unwilling to fool with the rotting corpse of a young man that the Locust had filled with explosives to act as a booby trap, Nelsan willingly dug through the body's intestines and disposed of the ordnance without a second thought. When the Section employs vehicles, Nelsan is always top cover, manning a machine-gun or other heavy weaponry. And while he's easily excitable, often to the point of hysterics and irrationality, he always pulls through alive and well, in one piece and ready to do it all over again the next day, no matter the number of times he gets blown up and hit by gunfire. Janos is fond of implying that Nelsan's behavior and personality are the result of the number of times he's been caught in explosions, and Nelsan's acquired hearing loss would seem to support this. To compensate, he sometimes removes his helmet, often in the middle of combat, but usually to deal with a bomb or when acting as Paul's spotter. He wears a pair of his cog-tags on every limb, so that even if he were fragmented by an explosion people would know which body parts were his. Janos and Lieutenant Kim believe this to be a bit macabre, while Paul simply thinks of it as 'eccentric'. '''Former Members of Bravo Section Corporal Kalan Rostegas (deceased, KIA) Formerly the second-in-command of Bravo One, as well as Sergeant Acheson's right-hand man and best (possibly only) friend, Rostegas was a capable fighter and competent leader. He offset Acheson's tactical inexpertise and balanced out the leadership of the squad, resulting in a tight, well-organized fighting unit capable of handling a wide variety of combat situations. In effect, Acheson inspired confidence, caution, and motivation, while Rostegas brought the ability to use those qualities to the best effect with aggressive, maneuverable tactics. With his death, the squad has lost one of its best men, and half of its brains. Rostegas was known for his unshaven facial hair and his wide variety of tattoos, many of which he displayed on his bare arms. He was also a smoker, always keeping a pack or two of cigarettes with him at all times. His ragged appearance often angered Major Reid, who had him clean-shaven at all times, much to Rostegas' disdain. He was killed shortly before the Battle of Ephyra, when he was shot through the chest by a Locust Sniper and flung to the ground. Though he was already dead, Sergeant Acheson worked to revive him until the evac Raven arrived, at which point he carried Rostegas' corpse to the crew bay, still pleading with the Corporal to just hang on a while longer. 'Samantha Byrne (reassigned) ' Private Samantha "Sam" Byrne was a female Gear who was handpicked by Lieutenant Minh Young Kim to be one of several demolitions and explosives experts for the then-new Bravo Section. She survived Operation Trident but was wounded in the leg, and missed out on Operation House Cleaning. She would stay with Bravo Four as part of the special EOD team for almost two months afterward, participating in most of the missions and all but a few EOD assignments from then on. When Colonel Hoffman removed Bravo Section from Major Reid's command, Sam grew dissatisfied with the new order of things and requested that she be reassigned back to one of Reid's normal EOD squads. After her reassignment, Sam participated in the Battle of Ephyra, the Lightmass Offensive, and the defense of Jacinto during Operation Hollow Storm. After the destruction of Jacinto she relocated to Vectes Naval Base along with the rest of the COG, and fought along with Delta-One during the Stranded Insurgency and the Lambent Invasion, even after the COG was disbanded. 'Jonathan Harper (reassigned, KIA) ' A Private at the time of Bravo Section's first assignment, Harper was handpicked by Lieutenant Kim to round out the roster for the unit. This turned out to be a turning point in Harper's career, as he was soon promoted to Corporal shortly after the disaster that was Operation House Cleaning. He often joked with the other Gears of Bravo that the Operation's name had been chosen by Major Reid as a double entendre, referencing both the clearing of the Locust-infested sector of Ephyra that was the mission objective, and the near total casualties of all men involved. He had himself reassigned to normal squad duty a few weeks later, not willing to stay and most likely die on another one of Major Reid's suicide missions. After being reassigned, Harper went on to be promoted to Sergeant, participate in the Battle of Ephyra, Operation Midnight, the Lightmass Offensive, and Operation Hollow Storm, commanding Echo-Nine during the latter two operations. He contracted Rust Lung after the Lightmass Offensive, and was briefly a prisoner of war of the Locust. He died in Jacinto of his wounds not long after escaping the Locust prisons, more than five years after he left Bravo Section.